Inserter systems, such as those applicable for use with the present invention, are mail processing machines typically used by organizations such as banks, insurance companies and utility companies for producing a large volume of specific mailings where the contents of each mail item are directed to a particular addressee.
In many respects, the typical inserter system resembles a manufacturing assembly line. Sheets and other raw materials (other sheets, enclosures, and envelopes) enter the inserter system as inputs. Then, a variety of modules or workstations in the inserter system work cooperatively to process the sheets until a finished mail piece is produced. The exact configuration of each inserter system depends upon the needs of each particular customer or installation.
Typically, inserter systems prepare mail pieces by gathering collations of documents on a conveyor. The collations are then transported on the conveyor to an insertion station where they are automatically stuffed into envelopes. After being stuffed with the collations, the envelopes are removed from the insertion station for further processing. Such further processing may include automated closing and sealing the envelope flap, weighing the envelope, applying postage to the envelope, and finally sorting and stacking the envelopes.
The input stages of a typical inserter system are depicted in FIG. 1a. At the input end of the inserter system, rolls or stacks of continuous printed documents, called a web, are provided at a web supply and fed into a web cutter where the continuous web is cut into individual sheets. In some inserter systems, the input stages of an inserter also include a right-angle turn to allow the individual pages to change their moving direction before they are fed into the inserter, as shown in FIG. 1b. 
FIG. 2 illustrates the input stages of an inserter system wherein the continuous web material is provided in a fanfold stack. As shown in FIG. 2, the continuous web material 5 is drawn out of a fanfold stack 2. Typically, sheets in the continuous web material 5 are linked by perforations so that the web material can be driven continuously by a web driver 100 into a web-cutting module 200. The web-cutting module 200 has a cutter 210, usually in a form of a guillotine cutting blade, to cut the web material 5 crosswise into separate sheets 8.
In some inserter systems, the web material 5 must be split into two side-by-side portions by a cutting device 212 as shown in FIG. 3. The cutting device 212 may be a stationary knife or a rotating cutting disc. After the web material 5 is split into two side-by-side portions, it is cut crosswise by the cutter 210 into pairs of sheets 8I and 8II. The sheets 8I and 8II move side-by-side toward a right angle turn device so that they can move in tandem into an inserter system (not shown).
In other inserter systems, the web-material 5 has a row of sprocket holes on each side of the web material so that the web can be driven by a tractor with pins or a pair of moving belts with sprockets. As shown in FIG. 4, a pair of cutting devices 214 are used to separate the side strips containing the holes from the web material 5 before the web material is cut crosswise by the cutter 210. Additionally, some mechanical devices (not shown) are used to remove the side strips before the web-material is fed into the cutter 210.
In general, the web material is driven in move-and-pause cycles, wherein the web material is temporarily paused for a short period to allow the cutter to cut the material into cut sheets. Thus, in each cycle, the web must be accelerated and decelerated. When the acceleration is high, the forces created by the acceleration of the web mass by the driving belt can break the web at a perforation or cause the sprocket holes to tear. Thus, a jam occurs. When high throughput (20,000+ cycles per hour) is desired, the acceleration force-induced rip on the sprocket holes is a major limiting factor to the obtainable cycle rate. Furthermore, when the acceleration is high, another force is created by aerodynamic effects, due mainly to wind resistance against the motion of the web. The aerodynamics related force may also break the web at a perforation. For this reason, web cutters are usually operated at a cycle rate much lower than the obtainable cycle rate, affecting the throughput of the inserter system.
It is advantageous and desirable to provide a method to improve the throughput of web cutters while reducing the web breakage.